Product description

Book 1 in the "New York Times" bestselling trilogy, perfect for fans of Battlestar Gallactica and "Prometheus"!
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SURVIVE ABOARD A SPACESHIP FUELED BY LIES?
Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the spaceship "Godspeed." She has left her boyfriend, friends--and planet--behind to join her parents as a member of Project Ark Ship. Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future. But fifty years before "Godspeed"'s scheduled landing, cryo chamber 42 is mysteriously unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.
Someone tried to murder her.
Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense." Godspeed"'s 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader. And Elder, Eldest's rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead.
Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside the ship's cold metal walls? All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock "Godspeed"'s hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

Customer reviews

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was my first book out of the sci-fi genre. I've never been very into stories about space ships or space wars. The universe with its wide expanse, planets and stars have always fascinated me in some way though. So ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was a perfect pick for me to approach this foreign genre.

The story begins with a decision that has to be made by our female protagonist Amy. She has to decide whether she wants to go on a mission with her parents and be cryogenically frozen for about 300 years or stay on earth all by herself. Doesn't that sound like the hardest choice? The process of being frozen is described so vividly and detailed it's pretty scary and I don't know if I would have been able to make such an important and life-changing decision.

THE VERDICT

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE- A space ship setting of epic expansion, a murder mystery with goose bump potential and a subtle but sweet romance make Beth Revis' debut novel shine as bright as the stars.

Beth Revis has a really engaging writing that gives every single character of her Godspeed inhabitants a unique and very authentic voice, especially Amy and Elder as the two protagonists. The conspiracy plot of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is very well-constructed by Beth Revis. If I would have to name a captain of my space mission it would definitely be her!
I can't wait to start A MILLION SUNS and dive deeper into the romance of Amy and Elder and future of the space ship Godspeed.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE embraces about eighty chapters, alternating between the perspectives of Amy and Elder. They are rather short and allow small reading breaks.
The romance between those two is subtle. They need their time to approach each other, both grown up with very different views on the world and relationships.
Amy and Elder are great protagonists and two witty and sharp-minded investigators. The main focus of the story lies on the investigation of the murders of various innocent and helpless...frozen people. I was glued to every step Amy and Elder traced the murderers footprints. I was so eager to figure it out!
The entire ACROSS THE UNIVERSE cast is pretty crazy and everyone on that ship seems to have their own issues that start to influence not only the relationship between Amy, Elder and his best friend Harley and the leader of the ship Eldest, but all the other people, too.
It's an interesting chase for the evil mind in the limited space on Godspeed. The closed space and number of possible antagonists makes ACROSS THE UNIVERSE a really mysterious and exciting story.

The actual story of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is set in future and has many opportunities and inventions to offer, medical-wise for example. It involves a few very cool elements like frozen people, a total agricultural system inside a space ship of a gigantic size and of course all kinds of other advanced technologies.

The US hardcover copy comes with a very helpful print on the inside of the book jacket with a blue print of the entire space ship of Godspeed. There are several levels on that space ship and many rooms and different parts of it that need to be remembered. Although the story is limited to the setting of Godspeed, a spaceship caught in space, the possibility of settings is very complex. It's a gigantic project!

Previously published on my blog: http://fictionfervor.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/review-across-the-universe-by-beth-revis/

I love books that aren't constrained to just one genre. I like mythological creatures with romance. I like dystopia with the supernatural. I like a little murder mystery tinged with love. I like that. So you can imagine that I was very pleased with the mixture of science fiction, dystopia, mystery, and romance in this novel. The science fiction? Represented through the futuristic feel of this book and the space journey. The dystopia? Represented in how Godspeed was run, under an all-powerful (or almost all-powerful) Eldest. The mystery? Represented in the mystery of who woke Amy from her cryo chamber. And the romance? Ah. Well. Amy and Elder.

In addition to the mixture of genres, the plot was very well developed. I could easily follow along and imagine what it's like to live in a ship with 2312 inhabitants, some of which are Feeders, who provide for the food of the ship, the Shippers, who run the ship, and Elder and Eldest, who control the people. And then add in the new technological developments-the wi-coms that let you communicate with anyone anywhere in the ship, the grav tubes that transport you through the ship, the floppies with huge screens that can hold enormous amounts of information ... You'd think all of that would be overwhelming. But in Across the Universe, you can just fall right into the book.

I loved the characters in this book. Loved. Amy, one of our protagonists, is such a strong female character yet still has that tenderness inside of her that wants to cry for her parents when she realizes that she is alone with strangers. Her passion in trying to find out who is killing the passengers in the cryo chambers and her determination in being accepted in the ship make her one of my favorite heroines. Elder, our other protagonist, is another of our strong characters. Elder has the leadership and courage and heroism that is required of him (he is, after all, the future leader of the ship), yet he still has the average thoughts of the average teenage boy. Also, originally he is obedient and submissive to Eldest; but I loved when he finally stood up to the leader of the ship.

And I haven't even talked about the romance yet. I love Amy and Elder's relationship; though at first, you wouldn't believe that the two could be together, you gradually realize that they're made for each other. I loved how Elder was always honest to Amy. And he always tried to stand up for her and protect her. Now that's the kind of guy I'd like.

The only problem I had with this book was the way the workers were practically brainwashed - so much that they would have sex on command. And the few who weren't brainwashed could pretty much rape someone else, who couldn't even cry out to help because everyone else was brainwashed. It's just a sad, sad world when something like that can happen with no one to stop it.

There were few problems that I could find with this book. Almost everything was written beautifully, developed wonderfully, depicted fantastically ... Practically perfect.

I really liked this book! Some people had mentioned before that it was at times a slow read however i got through it very quickly and finished it in one sitting. The characters Amy and Elder are likeable and the plot engaging, the book is defiantly a page turner. Well worth your time and entertaining!

Have you ever read Ringworld by Larry Niven? I have, and I loved the books. I think Ms. Revis has, as well. Now, I could be wrong (obviously I definitely do not have any insider information on what Ms. Revis has or has not read in her lifetime), but I'm fairly certain that I can detect quite a few parallels to Mr. Niven's books. Now...I'm not implying she stole the story. I'm not saying anything negative, in fact. I'm merely saying that I think this book could have been at least partially influenced by bits and pieces of the Ringworld series of books. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? As C.C. Colton said, "Imitation is the sincerest [form] of flattery".

Enough of that. Let's get to the nitty gritty of things. Our main characters are Elder, the future leader of the spaceship upon which this story takes place, and Amy; She's "nonessential cargo". Amy's parents are also cargo, though not nonessential, and a cryogenically preserved while waiting for said spaceship to reach its destination. There's quite a few others waiting in a popsicle-like state in the cargo bit of the ship - 97 others, in fact. So we have a ship full of people who have been traveling from point A to point B for a -very long time-, an up and coming new leader, a few crazies thrown in for good measure, and a plot that's been done a few times before. But that's OKAY! Why? Because Beth Revis makes it seem fresh. Also, this particular book is written in such a way that the younger crowd can really get into it. It's not quite so deep that you have to ponder for hours over it. It is, however, fun.

The chapters change character perspective throughout the book and honestly, I felt as though the book suffered a bit for this. The voices of Amy and Elder sound oddly similar and that, to me, was a bit disappointing. Perhaps if they were more noticeably different, the alternating voices would have worked.

All in all I feel the book was decently written, but it's not one of my favorites. Enjoyable, yes; It's a fun, light read.

I'll read the sequel. I'll probably even like the sequel. In the meantime, though, I'm going to go re-read Ringworld and its sequels and prequels, 'cause Across the Universe made me miss it.